PART TWENTY NINE

Anna’ dark eyes welled with tears, as she stepped quickly toward Liz in the darkness of the bunker. The muted lighting of the lantern shimmered across her wet auburn hair, giving her an ethereal appearance, especially the way dark shadows fell beneath her eyes.

"Tell me," Liz managed, already suspecting the worst since Anna had come alone… without Max.

"Liz, God…I’m so sorry, but," Anna’s voice broke a bit, and she lowered her eyes. "We were attacked and… and Max was captured."

"Is he alive?" Liz choked, because even giving life to such a question sickened her.

"I don’t know… I was unconscious, and when I came to," Anna hesitated, shivering visibly. "He was gone."

Something in Liz’s chest twisted painfully because she’d been trying to connect with Max ever since they’d arrived in the bunker, but had only felt emptiness in return, and had wondered what the cause might be. She turned slowly from Anna, feeling time close in on her, as a rushing noise filled her ears. She thought she might be physically sick, and clutched her stomach with her hand, as a wave of nausea crested over her.

"That means they’ve got Tess and Max—that we know of," Michael declared heavily. "Where do you think Nicholas would have taken them?"

"The house," Anna answered quietly. "I know that’s where they are…I can sense it."

"Then we put together a team and get them out of there," Michael announced and Liz’s heartbeat quickened.

"What about Riley?" Serena questioned, and Liz realized she hadn’t even noticed his absence, she’d been so focused on Max.

Anna instantly dropped her gaze, but Liz saw the tears begin spilling down her cheeks as she just shook her head. Time assumed a normalcy again, as Liz focused her attention on Anna like a laser, because somehow it made the situation with Max more controllable. "Tell us," Liz urged softly, sounding surprisingly strong even to her own ears.

"He was shot," Anna choked, wiping quickly at her tears with a quiet sob. "I had to leave him on the trail…it’s bad. Really bad."

"But he’s alive?" Serena questioned forcefully, stepping from behind Liz, and clasping Anna by the arm. She nodded in reply, head still bowed as she wiped at the tears.

"Then we will send someone with you back onto the trail to get him," Serena announced.

"But who will…" Anna’s voice faded, as she glanced from Serena to Liz meaningfully. Who will heal him, if Max is gone. That’s what Anna had almost said, but had stopped herself, Liz knew it.

"Let’s just get him and keep him alive," Serena answered quietly. "Devon?" she called over her shoulder, and the tall, blonde-haired man stepped from the shadows with a curt nod of acknowledgment. "You go with Anna for Riley."

"Yes, Serena," he answered in his typically soothing voice, and Liz was thankful he’d be Anna’s escort because something about Devon was always calming.

"I don’t know how we’ll ever get him back here," Anna cried, pressing her eyes tightly shut. "It’s such a long way, and…he’s bleeding so much. It’s a chest wound." Riley was obviously in serious jeopardy, because Anna was always strong, never fragile and emotional like this. Liz’s throat constricted at the thought of death parting the two lovers, who had always reminded her of Max and herself because of the intense connection they shared.

Death will not claim Max…will not separate us, Liz thought with conviction. But then a second, more sinister voice chimed in, reminding her that she felt nothing but coldness whenever she reached for their bond. Suddenly, a feeling of powerlessness began choking her. So many people who she loved and cared for were in danger—Max, Marco, Riley, Tess-- and yet she could do absolutely nothing.

"I’ll go with them," Liz announced.

"What?" Michael roared, stepping close to her, nearly invading her physical space. "Are you crazy?"

"I can heal Riley," she explained simply, glancing around the room at her comrades. And family, too, she thought as she glimpsed intense fear reflected in Isabel’s large, worried eyes.

"I’m the only one in this room who has the gift of healing," Liz continued. "And that means I should go with them."

"You’ll be putting yourself in too much danger, Liz," Serena argued, narrowing her eyes intently. Liz noticed that they shimmered with her own peculiar energy, that thing that always looked a bit alien—and it had flared at her declaration that she’d go after Riley.

"You’ve never even used your powers like that, Liz," Michael pointed out, grabbing her forcefully by the arm. "We don’t even know if you’d be able to now."

"I’ve used my intuition before," Liz disagreed, shaking his hand off and stepping away from him toward Isabel, who nodded encouragingly as she spoke. "Besides, it’s what Max would want me to do."

"Oh, that’s bullshit," Michael roared, following her the length of the bunker. "Max would have my ass if I let you do this."

"Max isn’t here, so stop wasting precious time and rescue him, already," Liz shouted, feeling her whole body shudder with tremors. Suddenly, all her rage over what Nicholas had done to them all overwhelmed her, and she almost began hyperventilating. "And let… me save… Riley’s life. I don’t know whether my husband is even alive… but this is something I can do, a way I can fight back."

"No," Michael stated flatly. "I won’t let you."

Liz raised herself up as tall as possible, tipping her chin up as she stared at Michael defiantly. "Max is gone, Tess is gone, and that means as queen, then I’m the one in charge here."

Silence fell over the room at her brazen statement, and the only sound was the muted pounding of rain on the overhead door.

"Well," Isabel finally ended the shocked silence, clearing her throat. "Guess that says it all, Michael."

"What’s that mean?" Michael demanded, whirling to face her.

"It means, Michael, that you’re standing here arguing with Liz when you could be taking a team up to the cabin to find my brother," Isabel explained angrily. "Or heading a search party or whatever. She’s right, we’re wasting precious time."

"Agreed," Serena nodded. "Liz, if you’re determined to do this, then go with Anna, but take Devon, too. You need a third, in case you aren’t…successful with the healing."

"And what are you going to do about getting Max back?" Liz asked, her voice trembling, as she felt some of her bravado vanish. Serena met her eyes meaningfully, blinking rapidly as she always did in a moment of deep emotion.

"I’ve spent far too long protecting my king to lose him now." Serena’s voice was thick, and she was more emotional than Liz had ever heard her. "We will bring him back to you, Liz, I swear it."

*****

Marco stared at Max’s crumpled body and grasped within his mind for a plan. Any plan…anything to get Max out of there alive. He’d passed out cold after Nicholas’s second assault, and it had been obvious that Max had been the victim of far worse than a mind rape, something more devastating—but precisely what, Marco wasn’t sure.

Even so, Marco had the sense that Nicholas might actually release Max tonight, and he was at least grateful for that, as he stared at Max’s crumpled form. But he was certainly wary of the sinister threat that had accompanied the implication of freedom…that Max would beg Nicholas to take the Granolith from him. Marco couldn’t fathom what Nicholas might have done within Max’s mind to warrant such a vile promise.

The door to the cabin crashed open and Marco’s chest drew tight as a wire when Nathan entered, shoving Tess roughly to the ground. Oh, God, he thought. Anyone, but Nathan…anyone.

"Look at the piece of trash I found wandering lost in the rain," Nathan gloated, as Tess landed hard on the wooden floor, her hands tied tightly in front of her. With her hands bound, she was unable to catch herself as she sprawled onto the hardwood. Marco felt his hands form involuntary fists of rage by his sides. Uncontrollable fury began to mount, building somewhere in his center…an alien energy that yearned for release in the form of a fire blast right at Nathan and Nicholas—at all of them who had hurt his beloved Tess and his king.

Calm down, he breathed within his mind, forcing his hands to unclench. You can’t save them if you blow your cover. Calm…

Nathan dropped to the floor, straddling Tess in a predatory manner, as he rolled her over onto her back before lowering his hips just over hers. She whimpered, writhing unsuccessfully beneath his weight. He leaned his face down close against hers, as he jerked her head backwards by her long, damp braid. That was when Marco noticed how bruised her face was, how he’d already beaten her, and how her lovely lips were swelling quickly.

"You’re going to tell us what you know, I’ll make sure of it," Nathan sneered with a laugh. "And I’ll have my pleasure along the way, my dear."

"Shut up!" She spat in his face, and though Marco admired her spirit, he feared the retaliation that would come. And it did, because just after Nathan had wiped his cheek, he raised his hand against her, ready to strike again.

And Marco sprung like a wildcat, clasping Nathan’s fist roughly in his own hand. "Do it again, and I’ll strike you myself," he thundered before he could even stop himself. His reaction had been instinctive and unstoppable.

The room fell silent, with only the sound of Nathan’s uneven breathing, matched by his own and Tess’s. Shit, Marco thought, glancing quickly at Nicholas to see if he suspected him of improper loyalties.

"Well, now this is an interesting moment," Nicholas chided with a cluck of his tongue. Marco decided to hedge his bets and yanked Nathan off of Tess in a swift motion—an easy maneuver given how much larger he was than Nathan.

"Nathan’s into my territory now, and he knows it," Marco growled possessively, with an intentionally dark glance at Tess. She laid on her back, panting heavily, and her blue eyes flickered briefly in his direction before she closed them.

"McKinley, Lonnie has always said you had it bad for Tess," Nicholas observed with a wry grin. "Now I see she was right."

"Ah, like hell I did…Lonnie had it all wrong," Marco countered, staring down at Tess with the most lascivious grin he could muster. "She was nothing to me…nothing but my little whore." Forgive me, love. Please, he breathed, willing her to hear him.

"Oh really, now?" Nicholas laughed, as Tess’s eyes flew open in shock. "Interesting indeed. I wonder if that’s how Max’s second views herself."

And then he’d never admired Tess Harding more, not in all the time he’d known her. Despite how broken she was, how frightened, she leaned up on her elbows with a proud toss of her braid.

"Oh, right, McKinley," she taunted, gazing up at him in icy challenge before turning to Nicholas in explanation. "Marco convinced himself of that to save his ego when I wouldn’t let him in my bed. He may have wanted it, but he never got a damn thing."

"Shut up!" Marco roared, continuing their act as he crouched down beside her. "You’re nothing but a little whore!"

She sat up fully, and he watched in slow motion as she pulled her hand back and slapped him hard across the cheek, bitingly to the point that he had to rub it afterward.

"Feisty little thing," Nicholas laughed behind him, as he walked to her side. Marco traced his hand seductively down the length of her braid, and she jerked her head away.

"Marco, something tells me you’d take special pleasure in mind raping this one," Nicholas observed.

Marco stared into her eyes hungrily, where he crouched by her side—and the ironic thing was that he didn’t have to feign the hunger part, just the spirit behind his longing gaze. "Oh, yes, special pleasure indeed," he breathed, reaching toward her face with outstretched hands. "And then afterwards I’ll take all my pleasure."

"If you deliver the granolith’s location to me, you can have all the pleasure with her that you want from now on," Nicholas laughed, stepping back a few steps.

"Don’t resist me, baby," Marco declared with a throaty laugh. "That didn’t work last time, remember?"

"Thought I was your little whore," Tess corrected, her voice catching.

"You will be after this." And with that simple promise, Marco cupped his hands around her face, mimicking a mind rape by twisting his features cruelly together.

His heart beat out an unsteady, desperate rhythm…even as he shivered when his skin made intimate contact with hers. His first real intimacy with her, apart from the brief moment on the trail earlier, in so long—why did it have to be under these circumstances?

My love, he called softly. Open, my love…open to me.

The spiraling energy that had begun building within his body out of anger moments before, instantly escalated now, shifting into something beautiful and utterly different—and his hands began trembling with it. Now the energy left his body, not as a fiery bolt meant to obliterate his enemies, but as a tender caress across Tess’s chilled skin.

He pressed his face right up against hers, their foreheads lightly touching. "Come on, baby, you can’t fight me now. Max isn’t going to protect you this time," he taunted. He heard her gasp softly in response and prayed she understood—and could only hope that she did since she’d taken his cue and followed along with his charade.

"I’m no whore," she hissed yet he felt her lean her cheek into his palm a bit, allowed him to cradle it imperceptibly.

Again, energy shot out of his core, aimed like a fine-pointed arrow at his beloved.

Warmth, security, safety…he wrapped his mind around all that he wanted her to feel from him, and knew that his peculiar gift of intuition enabled him to transmit those very emotions as softly as a sigh. If only she would open to him ever so slightly.

Tess, sweetheart, he called again…reaching his energy toward her. No mating bond existed between them, so he could only draw on the way their gifts had been reaching, yearning to join for so long now.

He felt no answer in return, and prayed he could reach her. He didn’t want to penetrate her mind by any other means, because no matter how much he cared for her, it would be too invasive. No, he wanted her to willingly open to him, because he believed they could form a rudimentary connection—even without being bonded mates. He was fairly certain he could accomplish that since he’d been hearing her voice in his mind for such a long time.

Marco pulled back a bit, in an effort to make more intimate visual contact, then Tess slowly raised her blue eyes to meet his gaze--and he felt his heart turn over in his chest. He hadn’t truly stared into those depths in so many months, and now as their eyes locked, a jolt of electricity shot across his skin. He had to suppress a soft answering gasp, because her energy hit him with so much power he could hardly breathe, could only press his eyes tightly shut so as to keep from crying out at the sensation.

****

Tess sat panting on the cold floor of the cabin, shivering from her wet clothes and hair—but more than that from Marco’s gentle touch. She’d barely heard Nicholas order him to mind rape her, before suddenly he was taking her face within his warm hands…palms that were so strong and comforting. His large, dark eyes stared at her, his warm breath fanned her cheek, as he drew near.

And then right afterwards, she’d begun to feel heat pool within her belly--slowly like soothing waves, the sensation had begun lapping outward. Now it was overtaking her, becoming like erratic wildfire, roiling in her veins.

She ached for him more in that single moment than she had in all his months away…perhaps more than she ever had before. Yet these emotions were an illusion because she was a captive to them all, even to Marco in a strange way, since they believed her to be.

Now suddenly she heard it, such a tender command right within her mind…Open, my love. And then his energy ricocheted crazily across her body, seductive and erotic. A promise of what a bonding with him could really be, and she opened as fully as she could in her condition, as completely as she even knew to do.

This was something virgin and unknown, connecting with him intimately like this. Suddenly, a wind rushed through her mind.

Oh, Tess, he breathed. My love, my sweet, sweet Tess. The relief in his voice was unbelievably palpable. Forgive me for my harsh words…I was grasping at anything to protect you from Nathan.

I know…of course I know, she whispered in return. Marco, how…are we doing this? What are we doing?

No, but as an Empath this is part of my gift…I have opened myself, invited you to open…now we are able to communicate like this.

They fell silent for a brief moment, each overwhelmed with sensation and Tess grappled for equilibrium as Marco’s mental landscape and terrain came more clear within her own mind.

Tell me Nathan did not…Marco stammered awkwardly and she felt his leap of painful anxiety…hurt you in some manner, other than the obvious.

That he didn’t rape you—it’s what she heard him thinking even though he hadn’t voiced it.

She had to choke back a sob at his words. Set you free, he’d promised…was so confident of getting her out of there, that she’d be okay.

What about you? Will you come with me? She barely breathed. I can’t tell you how I’ve missed you, longed for you. You can’t possibly know. She felt tears quickly brim within her eyes, as new waves of his energy swept rapidly across their makeshift connection.

And not just his energy, but…God, so much love. It was unimaginable the love she felt from him in that moment, the intensity and depth of it, as it wrapped itself all around her.

No, don’t tell me that, she cried, tears now spilling down her cheeks. "Don’t!" she shouted out loud, not needing to fake the pain she felt in the moment.

Yes, she murmured softly, the dreams…

Have kept you so alive to me, he finished with a rush. Have only heightened how much I already loved you.

She gasped because he’d never spoken the words to her so frankly. I do love you, Tess…have no doubt on that point.

She pressed her eyes shut and remembered to cry out painfully, and then silence fell momentarily between them, as the rush of emotions and impressions stilled. And then softly, tenderly she whispered across his skin. I love you with all that is within me, Marco…

I know, sweetheart, but now we must get you out of here. We must join our powers.

What? She asked in confusion

Cry out, he coached her. You must make it appear that I’m hurting you…

She allowed a soft sob to escape her lips, along with a muted plea of "Don’t."

Create an image, what you want them to see and allow me to lay claim to it within your mind, Marco explained quickly. To do that, you must open to me as fully as you can…feel my own gifts.

She pressed hard, even as she was so aware of how broken her body felt, how weakened her spirit. Nathan had hit her fully in the chest with the disruptor, and her body continued to throb from his merciless attack.

Press harder, she commanded herself, and delved further into her mind, deeper into Marco’s…and felt an explosive release within her spirit. Suddenly knew just how profoundly Marco felt everything in this world--just how richly and with such intense passion. How sensitive his lovely spirit was…and she reached for that, fisting it within her own spirit, and felt a powerful union form.

And it was a rush so heady she couldn’t even breathe for a good ten seconds.

Tess, now, he urged desperately. We’ve done it…give me the image and I’ll latch on.

She created the picture of the familiar cabin, of the living room where even now she sat on the floor, and then colored in Marco mind raping her, Max lying on the floor—she created the entire scenario to perfection. And then she felt a sharp jolt, sensed Marco lay claim to it, internalize it within his own mind.

Go, go, he urged. Got it, go…get Max and run.

She opened her eyes, only to see Marco kneeling right beside her, his own eyes pressed tightly shut in intense concentration. His hands dropped slowly away from her face, as if despite the moment, he was reluctant to let her go, and she rose without looking back at him. Quickly, she spotted Max who was now stirring faintly on the floor.

She pulled on him, urging him to his feet and he met her gaze weakly. She nodded toward the others without speaking and mouthed the words "mind warp" and he rose as she tugged him to his feet. He was unsteady, but he followed her out the cabin door, and all the while Nicholas and his men stood studying Marco as if he were kneeling beside Tess mind raping her.

Tess slipped her arm around Max’s waist to keep him from stumbling, heading out into the driving, icy rain again.

"Come on," she urged, as he tripped a bit beside her. "Max, I’ve got to get you out of here."

"I’m coming," he answered in a thick voice.

Tess’s ankle throbbed in terrible pain with every step, but she willed the sensation from her consciousness like a firewalker passing over flaming coals. There was no time to reflect on it at the moment, all she could do was lead Max to safety--and pray they’d make it to that bunker without being apprehended by their enemies because she doubted they’d be given any second chances at this point.